THE NOSTALGIA DETECTIVE (available now)
From an Albany hospital bed, John, a stay-at-home dad and casual private detective, tells the story of his attempt to find Richie Curtz, a white middle-aged man, missing now for over a month. Despite several probable leads, the official investigation has stalled. But John, the Nostalgia Detective, suspects the most promising lead has so far been overlooked: the connection between Richie’s ‘last seen wearing’ grunge-era outfit, his upcoming fortieth birthday, and the recent death of a 1990s musical icon. The search takes John from Perth to the greater South West of Western Australia, as he traces the history of a man who leaves very few traces, all the while dealing with his own anxieties, paranoia, Gen-X cynicism, and some unwelcome intrusions from the past.
‘If he is alive and well, then he mustn’t want to be here. He doesn’t want to come home. And if he did make it home, then I’m not sure we can forgive him anyway. If he is dead . . . if he is dead, that we can forgive.’
‘It’s easy to forget that the missing are missing only because they are missed. This means that the missing aren’t always lost and have in fact chosen to be missing, as free individuals – in some ways more free than any of us. If they want to come home, they will. If they want to stay missing, then they are free to do that too.’
Where can I get a copy?
The Nostalgia Detective is available as hardcopy or eBook from 1 October. Hardcopies can be purchased from Beaufort Street Books (Mt Lawley), Dymocks Subiaco and Mandurah Book Exchange (Mandurah), Booktopia, Barnes and Noble, or you can contact me directly for a copy at brett.jenkins78@gmail.com. eBooks can be purchased on Amazon, Kobo, Booktopia,
A BOY MINER
A Boy Miner is the true story of an eighteen-year-old boy thrown into the man’s world of FIFO underground mining from 1996 to 2000, taking him to the Western Australian outback mine of Bronzewing, then the Silver Swan nickel mine near Kalgoorlie, and finally The Granites gold mine in the Northern Territory’s Tanami Desert. A Boy Miner explores the trials of negotiating the meaning of masculinity, of mateship, and the effects that absence and isolation can have on FIFO workers and their families. At times humorous, profound, and melancholic, A Boy Miner reflects the swinging moods of the boy and the wider mining community, living by the cycle of a FIFO roster.
RRP: $22
Where can I get a copy?
A Boy Miner can be purchased from the following bookstores:
Beaufort street books (Mt Lawley) https://beaufortstreetbooks.com.au/
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Visitor Centre https://www.kalgoorlietourism.com/
A Boy Miner can also be purchased directly from the author for $22 plus postage or as an eBook for under $9
kobo eReader https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/a-boy-miner
BRETT J JENKINS - author 